Saabs - Love them or Hate them? What are they like to own?

mrcow

Okay so I know nothing about cars.

We're having to look for a new car for my boyfriend - changing jobs. He wants something that won't damage his image too much - I just want something reliable that we can use a a second car for the family if need be (we have three children).

We've currently got an A3 which I think has been perfect. Kind of a perfect mix of what we both want.

He's not keen on getting another A3 (typical man - wants a new model, but we won't go into that right now).

We've been looking at the Saab 9-3 as it looks like we can get a 3 year oldish car for a very reasonable price (between £7.5-£10k) with a reasonable spec. I've talked him down from the convertable as we couldn't fit the family in the back of one of those.

My only concern is that I've read some opinions on here and there are a couple of MSE members who don't seem that keen on Saabs and are saying that they are very unreliable.

I've never driven a Saab. The closest I've been to one is standing next to one. So we're going to go and look at some - I was wondering about the types of issues/problems we should be looking for.

Just wondered if there are any MSE'ers who have owned Saabs or driven them and could offer any opinions on what they thought?

How reliable are they?
Are they a good buy?

DKLS

I used to love Saabs, and had a Saab 900 turbo for 4 years, that didnt break down once.

Then they were taken over by GM, and the 9-3 I believe is based on the vectra, hence why people arent so fond of them.

For a more informative answer, either try pistonheads forum or one of the Saab owners clubs online.

LandyAndy

There was a thread on here about a week ago asking a similar question.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2092661

mrcow

LandyAndy wrote: »

There was a thread on here about a week ago asking a similar question.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2092661

Thanks LA - I did see that thread but was kind of put off that the Saab basher on there said that the best car they'd driven was a Skoda Octavia - wasn't sure what to make of that and was hoping to see if any more owners had opinions.

delambo

I would rather own a Skoda Octavia than a Saab 9-3. The Saab is an expensive Vectra whereas the Octavia is a cheep Audi A4.

When Saabs were Saabs they were good cars but now they are Vauxhalls they are not that great. When Skodas were Skodas they were rubbish cars but now they are Volkswagen / Audis they are smashing!!

The only think is the image which seems to be infulencing the decision here, the image of a Saab is better than that of a Skoda.

NickWarren_2

The octavia's are indeed very very nice cars.

Cheaper maintenance than the Saab I would imagine too.

When modern Saab's go wrong the replacement parts and labour can be eye watering.

Indout96

We have a 9-3 (for 3 years now) totally reliable and brilliant to drive, BUT servicing is very expensive, nothing actually gone wrong with it yet so cant really coment on the price of parts. I spend a lot of time at work in BMW 3 or 5's, Audi A4's and 1 Skoda Octavia (which is a cheap OLD A4) and would take the Saab over any of them.
But take a test drive for yourself, then go test a Skoda and see which you prefer,

mrcow

Thanks - there's no way in hell's chance we'd be buying a Skoda - no matter how many people try and say it's a cheap Audi I'm not even after a cheap Audi - if we wanted an Audi, we could a real one lol.

It's more that he's always like Saab back from the old 900 days - I think that's where his way of thinking has come from.

Looked on Pistonheads forum as advised - I couldn't understand a word of what they were writing! Told you I know nothing about cars.

wuckfit

How are they to own? Expensive if they go wrong. (and mine went wrong quite a bit. every time it went in, they seemed to replace EGR valves.) What Saab need to do is to change the 'engine' icon on the dash to include a £ in the design. because whenever that light comes on, it's gonna empty your wallet...
I traded my 9-3 for an Octavia (and was shocked at the low trade-in value.)
I think the saab has a slightly better ride than the Skoda, but for the reduced running costs, I'd rather have my top-spec Octavia than the mid-spec 9-3.
I nearly got an Octavia last time round when we went for the Saab. wish we had.

edited to add: if the Saab had been more reliable AND been less expensive to maintain, I'd happily have had another one. It was an economics thing. I enjoyed driving the Saab when I had it. I just had problems with reliability.

marmitedog

Octavia is based on a Golf platform, not A4.

I love old SAABs but the new ones since GM took over have been pretty hopeless. The fact that they are losing money and GM can't find a buyer means they probably won't be around much longer.

Alan_M_2

Have two, a saloon 9-3 and a Sportwagon 9-3 - both "57" plates, combined mileage now 80,000 and neither has missed a beat or incurred a warranty claim.

These are 1.9Tdi 150hp Vector Sports.

I'm a business user and I choose the cars, I actually chose these as we got a cheaper deal than Vectra's....so they were ordered on price alone.

Now we've owned two for over 2 years I think we got great value for money. But everyone is different I guess.

My neighbour bought a new AMG Mercedes....it was so bad it spent more of the first 6 months of it's life in a garage than on the road, that was an £80,000 car......so I guess you're lucky or you're not.

Second hand it's all a lottery anyhow.